Leader
by EponinexEnjolras
Summary: Enjolras' thoughts as he sees his friends deaths. He's about to lose hope when he gets a reminder of why he started the uprising. Oneshot songfic.


A/N: This fic is musical-based and slightly AU in the way some people die. I got an idea to write this after hearing the song: "The Only One" by Evanescence. I hope you review and please don't be too picky about details.

This is all from Enjolras' POV.

Disclaimer: I do not own Les Mis or the song, "The Only One."

* * *

Leader

"How could it have come to this?" I asked myself as I struggled to breathe through the smoke.

"How could _I _have let it come to this?" I wondered as I continued to dodge bullets and re-load my carbine at the same time.

"Everything I have worked for…is gone."

_When they all come crashing down- mid-flight  
You know you're not the only one  
When they're so alone they find a back door out of life  
You know you're not the only one_

I looked around myself to find my men falling to the ground, dying for what they believed in, for what I had driven into them.

"Yes." I thought.

"But now…"

I sighed as I saw students being shot through the heart and falling to the ground; their blood spilling out.

"I have driven them to their graves. Oh, my friends," I thought.

"Forgive me…"

_We're all grieving  
Lost and bleeding _

"All of these men looked up to me…and I let them down."

That very thought kept replaying in my head as I shot another guard.

"They respected me, they even called me their leader and I let them down!"

I gritted my teeth as an explosion shook the barricade, causing an item or two to come crashing down on my thick skull. But that didn't stop cynical thoughts from coming into my head.

"I told them that we would one day live as free men…was I lying?" I asked myself as the battle continued all around me.

_All our lives  
we've been waiting  
for someone to call our leader  
all your lies  
I'm not believing  
Heaven shine a light down on me_

How could I have been so blind? I should have known it would end like this! I should have-

"Enjolras…!"

I looked up to see something so horrific that it would haunt me, even in the afterlife.

There laid my closest friend, clutching his side and spitting out blood all over the place. I immediately ran over to him.

"Combeferre!" I cried as he fell.

I kneeled down to examine the wound.

"Oh my dear friend…" I tried to hold my tears in, but they fell against my will.

Combeferre held my shirt in his weak grasp, whispering; "don't worry about me, Enjolras. Go and fight…save our country…"

"No, please. Please don't leave me-" He cut me off with one word.

"Patria…"

He let go of my shirt and fell back with a sigh. He was dead.

"You didn't deserve that, Combeferre. You didn't deserve it."

So afraid to open your eyes- hypnotized  
you know you're not the only one  
never understood this life  
and you're right I don't deserve, but you know I'm not the only one

"Enjolras!"

I glanced up to see Jehan and Courfeyrac running toward me.

"Come on, Enjolras! The Barricade isn't going to stand a chance with you sitting here!" Courfeyrac cried.

Jehan knelt down and took my arm.

"Come my friend. He's in a better place now, but Courfeyrac it right, we still need you." Jehan whispered as he helped me up.

I knew he was trying to console me, but his words brought me no comfort.

_We're all grieving  
lost and bleeding_

"It's finished…we're through." I whispered.

"Then we'll follow you to the end." A stranger behind me said as everyone who survived was shot down.

"Why?" I whispered.

"Because you're our leader." The stranger replied.

I turned to see the one person I never expected to see out here, Grantaire.

_All our lives  
we've been waiting  
for someone to call our leader  
all your lies  
I'm not believing  
heaven shine a light down on me_

I couldn't believe my eyes!

"Grantaire? What are you-"

"Enjolras! Behind you!" He shouted as he pushed me out of the way of a speeding bullet.

"Grantaire!" I called out as he slumped to the ground, clutching his chest.

"It's alright." He said through clenched teeth.

I quickly dragged him into the empty café and sat him down.

"Is everyone gone?" He asked. I had never seen him so solemn.

I slowly nodded.

"Yes…e-everyone. Jehan, Combeferre, Courfeyrac, everyone…"

I turned to him, only to see him slumped in the chair, his eyes closed, his chest motionless. Now he too, was gone.

_Don't look down  
don't look into the eyes of the world beneath you  
don't look down, you'll fall down,  
you'll become their sacrifice  
right or wrong  
can't hold onto the fear that I'm lost without you  
if I can't feel, I'm not mine,  
I'm not real _

I closed my eyes and attempted to stop the tears from coming, but they came anyway. I almost couldn't believe that I was weeping for a drunken, cynical, fool like Grantaire, but I was. I then remembered why.

"_Because you're our leader." _He had said to me.

I wanted to stay and ponder this longer, but I knew that I didn't have time, and I didn't want to die in this empty, darkened, café; hiding like a hunted animal. I grabbed my carbine, loaded it and strode to the doorway of the café. I then stopped at the threshold and looked back at the lifeless body of Grantaire.

"Goodbye, my friend." I murmured before I stepped outside into the smoke and heat.

I then looked up and saw the red flag, our symbol of freedom, waving majestically in the wind. I knew then what I had to do, I ran to the peak of the barricade, picked up the flag, and waved it like there was no tomorrow. My moment to leave this earth came at last; I tumbled down from the top of the barricade and laid there on the cold hard brick of the street, the red flag lying on top of me, its crimson fabric mixing with fresh blood. My lips murmuring their last words.

_All our lives  
we've been waiting  
for someone to call our leader  
all your lies  
I'm not believing  
heaven shine a light down on me_

"When the beating of your heart,

Echoes the beating of the drums.

There is a life about to start,

When tomorrow…"


End file.
